Districts can be shaped by partisan aims, not racial ones
On a Sunday morning set aside to honor mothers, CBS News Sunday Morning turns its gaze toward the forces that shape American life across generations — a Supreme Court ruling that redraws the boundaries of democratic representation, the passing of a media titan who reimagined how the world receives its news, and the quiet closing of a radio network that taught a nation how to listen. These are not merely news events but markers in the longer human story of how power is held, how voices are amplified, and how we grieve what we lose while finding ways to carry on.
- A Supreme Court decision has effectively dismantled six decades of racial redistricting protections, allowing partisan mapmaking to reshape who gets represented and how across states already rushing to redraw their electoral boundaries.
- Ted Turner, the restless visionary who invented the 24-hour news cycle and spent his fortune saving bison and wild lands, died at 87 — leaving a void in both media and conservation that few figures could ever hope to fill.
- CBS News Radio, a nearly century-old institution that gave the world Edward R. Murrow and set the template for broadcast journalism, will go silent on May 22 — a farewell that feels less like a business decision and more like the end of an era.
- Mother's Day segments cut between celebration and sorrow — Martha Stewart's breakfast table sits alongside the grief retreats of Motherless Daughters, where women who lost their mothers young find sisterhood in shared loss.
- A fractured mother-daughter relationship rebuilt from homelessness, a comedian who channels tragedy into joy, and a warning that Los Angeles is rebuilding too fast and too carelessly — the broadcast lands in a country navigating loss on every front.
CBS News Sunday Morning's May 10 broadcast opens with one of the most consequential legal shifts in recent American history. A Supreme Court ruling has overturned the framework that, since Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, had protected voting districts from being drawn along racial lines. The Court's new position allows partisan considerations to guide redistricting instead — a distinction that sounds technical but carries enormous weight for democratic representation. States are already redrawing their maps. National correspondent Robert Costa will explore what this means, joined by historian Martha Jones of Johns Hopkins, legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky, and Representative Jamie Raskin, a constitutional law expert navigating the political fallout firsthand.
The broadcast also mourns Ted Turner, who died May 6 at 87. Turner founded CNN, raced yachts, built media empires, and became one of America's most committed conservationists — pouring his wealth into environmental causes and the restoration of the American bison. Correspondent Lee Cowan reflects on a life that was, by any measure, outsized.
Another loss follows: CBS News Radio, founded nearly a century ago and home to legends like Edward R. Murrow, Robert Trout, and Charles Osgood, will broadcast its final program on May 22. Mo Rocca marks the occasion with reflections from Martha Teichner and Dan Rather, whose careers were shaped by the network. What radio journalism meant — its intimacy, its urgency, its craft — is what they are being asked to eulogize.
Mother's Day threads through the rest of the hour. Martha Stewart offers breakfast inspiration from her new book. Faith Salie visits the Motherless Daughters network, a global community founded twenty years ago for women who lost their mothers young — gatherings where grief and laughter coexist. Steve Hartman tells the story of a mother and daughter whose bond, broken by homelessness and hardship, was quietly rebuilt. And Tracy Smith profiles comedian Martin Short, whose new Netflix documentary examines how humor has carried him through a life marked by genuine tragedy. The broadcast airs at 9:00 a.m. ET on CBS, hosted by Jane Pauley.
On Sunday morning, May 10th, CBS News Sunday Morning will air a program that grapples with one of the week's most consequential legal decisions: a Supreme Court ruling that has fundamentally altered how voting districts can be drawn in America. The decision, handed down last month, represents a sharp pivot from six decades of voting rights protections. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, it was meant to dismantle the machinery that had systematically excluded Black voters from the political process. That law stood as a cornerstone of American civil rights for generations. But the Court's recent ruling has upended that framework. Districts can no longer be drawn primarily along racial lines, the justices determined—but they can be shaped by partisan considerations. The practical effect is already visible: states across the country are rushing to redraw their electoral maps, and the implications for democratic representation remain uncertain and contested.
National correspondent Robert Costa will examine what this legal shift means for American democracy, speaking with scholars, legal experts, and elected officials who are grappling with its consequences. Martha Jones, a historian at Johns Hopkins University and author of "The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir," will offer historical perspective on how this moment fits into the longer arc of voting rights in America. Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, will represent the legal reasoning behind the decision. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a Democrat and constitutional law expert, will discuss the political fallout and what lawmakers are confronting as they navigate this new terrain. The segment will air as the nation begins to absorb what this ruling means for the next generation of elections and representation.
The broadcast will also mark a moment of significant loss in American media. Ted Turner, the visionary entrepreneur who founded CNN and transformed cable television, died on May 6 at the age of 87. Turner was a restless, ambitious figure who reshaped not just the news landscape but American culture itself. He raced yachts in the America's Cup, built media empires, and became one of the country's most consequential conservationists, pouring his fortune into environmental causes and helping restore the American bison. Correspondent Lee Cowan will look back at Turner's outsized life and the ways he left his mark on journalism, broadcasting, and the natural world.
Another chapter of broadcasting history is closing. CBS News Radio, founded nearly a century ago, will sign off on May 22. The network set the standard for radio journalism and created the template that broadcast journalists still follow today. It was home to legends like Edward R. Murrow, Robert Trout, and Charles Osgood—names synonymous with the craft itself. Mo Rocca will celebrate that long history and speak with current and former staffers, including Martha Teichner, a Sunday Morning correspondent who spent decades reporting on radio, and Dan Rather, who began his career as a radio correspondent and later anchored the CBS Evening News. Their reflections will capture what is being lost as radio news, once the heartbeat of American journalism, fades from the airwaves.
The program will also turn to Mother's Day, offering several perspectives on motherhood, loss, and family bonds. Martha Stewart will share tips for preparing a special Mother's Day breakfast, drawing from her latest book, "The Martha Way." In a more poignant segment, Faith Salie will speak with women who lost their mothers young and have found community through Hope Edelman's Motherless Daughters network. Founded twenty years ago, the organization has grown into a global support system for women navigating life without their mothers. The retreats where these women gather are marked by tears, yes, but also by laughter, sisterhood, and affirmation—spaces where grief is held alongside joy. Some of these women are now becoming mothers themselves, stepping into territory their own mothers never had the chance to guide them through.
Steve Hartman will report on a mother and daughter whose relationship was fractured by hardship and homelessness, only to be rebuilt when the daughter finally had a place of her own and reached out. Jonathan Vigliotti will offer commentary on Los Angeles's reconstruction after last year's devastating wildfires, arguing that the rush to rebuild has prioritized speed over the safety and structural improvements that might prevent future catastrophes. And in the Sunday Profile, Tracy Smith will speak with comedian Martin Short about his new Netflix documentary, "Marty: Life Is Short," which explores how he has carried joy and humor through a lifetime marked by personal tragedy and loss.
The broadcast airs on CBS at 9:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, with streaming beginning at 11:00 a.m. on the CBS News app. It is hosted by Jane Pauley.
Citações Notáveis
The Court's ruling represents a sharp pivot from six decades of voting rights protections established by the 1965 Voting Rights Act— CBS News Sunday Morning reporting
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does this Supreme Court ruling matter so much? It's about how districts are drawn—isn't that a technical question?
It's technical, yes, but the consequences are profound. For sixty years, the Voting Rights Act prevented districts from being drawn to dilute the voting power of Black Americans. This ruling removes that protection. Now states can reshape districts for partisan advantage instead. That changes who gets elected, which changes policy, which changes lives.
So the Court is saying race can't be a factor, but party can be?
Exactly. It's a strange inversion. The original law was designed to protect a group that had been systematically excluded. Now the Court is saying you can't use race as a consideration, but you can use partisan affiliation. The irony is that in many places, race and partisan voting patterns overlap, so the practical effect may be similar—just dressed in different language.
What happens now?
States are already redrawing maps. We don't yet know how this will reshape representation in Congress or state legislatures. The real test comes in the next election cycle. That's when we'll see whether this ruling fundamentally changes who holds power.
And the other big story this week—Ted Turner dying. Why does that matter beyond the media world?
Turner wasn't just a media figure. He created CNN, which changed how news is delivered globally. But he also became a serious conservationist, spent his own money on environmental causes, helped restore the American bison. He was a restless, ambitious man who actually accomplished things most people only dream about.
CBS Radio is ending too. That feels like the end of an era.
It is. Radio was where broadcast journalism was born. Murrow, Trout, Osgood—they set the standard. Radio news shaped how Americans understood the world for nearly a hundred years. When that goes silent, something irreplaceable is lost.